


The Hidden Clue

by NextGenerationFanatic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 06:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NextGenerationFanatic/pseuds/NextGenerationFanatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry gets a tip-off about how to solve the second Task, but gets interrupted whilst trying to solve it, by a very welcome intruder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hidden Clue

"I just wanted to say... Thank you for tipping me off about the dragons. I never would have stood a chance in the first Task without you."

Harry was taken aback by this; Cedric had never sought him out to talk to him before. They had competed against each other in Quidditch, then of course Harry had seen him at the World Cup, and then again when the Triwizard Tournament had begun, but they had never talked like this, almost privately.  
"Think nothing of it," Harry said eventually. "You'd have done the same for me."  
"Well, exactly." Cedric leaned in closer and lowered his voice, and Harry inhaled sharply, his heart rate increasing. "You know the Prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor?"  
"What about it?" said Harry, his distraction by the Hufflepuff's dark brown eyes preventing him from saying anything more considered.  
"It's not a bad place for a bath," Cedric answered quietly, looking straight back into Harry's green ones. "Take your egg and... mull things over in the hot water." He winked at Harry, gave him a friendly smile and wandered off, flicking his yellow and black scarf over his shoulder as he went.  
"What was that about?" came a curious-sounding voice from behind him. Harry whirled around to see Hermione standing a little way off, looking puzzled.  
"Nothing," said Harry immediately, too quickly, and Hermione looked suspicious.  
"Harry, I can tell when you're lying to me," she smirked.  
"All right," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "He was giving me a clue for the next Task." Hermione's eyes widened in shock.  
"But that's against the rules! You're not meant to confer with the other Champions," she gasped.  
"Well, if I hadn't, he'd probably be dead," retorted Harry. "And that's the last thing I... er, anyone wants." Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing about it.  
"Come on," she said, dropping the matter. "Snape'll kill us if we're late."

That evening after dinner, Harry told Hermione, Ron and Ginny about Cedric's hint. Hermione's response was immediate and predictable:  
"You can't go wandering around the castle at night! Have you learnt nothing in nearly four years here? You could get caught!"  
"Alternatively," added Ron thoughtfully, "you could _not_ solve the clue and die in the second Task." Ginny giggled and Harry smiled absentmindedly, but Hermione did neither.  
"It's not a joke, Ronald," she said sharply.  
"But Hermione," Ginny put in, "Harry's been outside of the common room before at night without getting caught. As have you and Ron, unless I'm very much mistaken. I'd suggest he takes his Invisibility Cloak, but I think it's a good idea."  
"Fine," sighed Hermione, raising her hands in dramatic despair. "On your own heads be it. But don't blame me if it all goes wrong." There was silence momentarily. "Harry?"  
"Hm? Yes, of course," said Harry with a start, who'd been having difficulty removing from his mind the image of a certain pair of brown eyes.

That night, once everyone else was in bed, Harry whirled his Cloak around himself, tucked the egg firmly under his arm and slipped out of the Gryffindor common room. He tiptoed up the stairs to the fifth floor and stopped at a blue door with a brass plaque which read, 'Prefects' Bathroom: No other admittance'. Harry swallowed nervously and, looking both ways to check no one was watching, he turned the handle. The door swung open. Harry was amazed by the enormous bath. It was more like a swimming pool, and once he'd enjoyed it for a while, he climbed out, locked the door and took the egg to the water's edge.

He sat down in the water again, relaxing in the warmth and thinking about the clue. But after several minutes, he still had no idea what to do. For inspiration, he turned the catch on the top of the egg; it flew open and screamed at him, and Harry promptly closed it again. He sighed and lay back in the water. Suddenly, he froze: he thought he'd heard footsteps. Suddenly, he heard a whispered, "Alohomora," and the lock clicked. Harry spun round in horror, moving out to the deeper water and sinking down to his neck. The door swung open and there in the doorway was the charming face of Cedric Diggory.  
"Cedric?" gasped Harry. "Wha... what are you doing here?" Cedric smiled, stepped in and closed the door, turned round and locked it.  
"I said it was a good place for a bath," he said casually. "Surely you didn't think I meant by yourself?" Harry was speechless. "May I join you?" Cedric asked gently, and Harry nodded dumbly. Cedric pulled off his trousers and shirt until he was dressed in just his boxers, then he climbed into the water. He hesitated by the edge of the bath, clearly reluctant to move too fast. "I really like you, Harry," he murmured. Harry, slightly embarrassed but thrilled that his crush was sitting in the same bath as him, swam over to him, making sure he was covered by the multicoloured bubbles. He sat down next to Cedric, turned to face him and leaned in. They kissed, and Harry felt an energy surging through him as though his senses were working twice as efficiently as usual; the sound of the bath and his occasional moans seemed louder, the bath's scents smelled sweeter, and Cedric's hands on his face seemed to burn holes through his cheeks. They moved closer together, and Harry could feel Cedric's chest on his, his strong arms were wrapped around Harry, and he felt truly safe for the first time in three and a half years, since he had first heard about what had really happened to his parents. And it was a glorious feeling, one that filled him with a warmth that made the bath seem baltic by comparison, one which made that first embrace all the sweeter.

"So?" asked an impatient Hermione the next morning. "Did you solve the clue?"  
"Not exactly," admitted Harry.  
"What?!"  
"Don't panic. I'll just have to try again tonight," he answered with a small, secret smile.


End file.
